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Over 27.3 million acres of American land is owned by foreigners.
It's time to ban foreign ownership of commercial property and force foreign investors to lease land from Americans.
It's time to ban foreign ownership of commercial property and force foreign investors to lease land from Americans.
In just one 2013 sale, a Chinese company bought 146,000 acres of prime U.S. farmland.
They poison our rivers and streams, pollute our air and airwaves with smog and propaganda.
It's time to stop. It has to stop.
They poison our rivers and streams, pollute our air and airwaves with smog and propaganda.
It's time to stop. It has to stop.
Why do we allow our breadbasket to be pilfered?
Why are we letting China purchase our farms and slaughterhouses? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whos-behind-chinese-takeover-worlds-biggest-pork-producer
China forces our businesses to enter into 51/49 partnerships when we invest over there.
We've been too stupid to see what's going on, too greedy to care.
We've been too stupid to see what's going on, too greedy to care.
Here's the source for the first tweet:
https://www.agdaily.com/amp/index.php?&article=not-just-u-s-farmland-foreign-held-whats-intentions
https://www.agdaily.com/amp/index.php?&article=not-just-u-s-farmland-foreign-held-whats-intentions
One more foreign ownership fact:
Through the end of the second quarter of 2018, $8.1 trillion, which is the equivalent of about 35% of the $23.0 trillion market capitalization of the S&P 500 at that time, was owned by foreign interests.
Through the end of the second quarter of 2018, $8.1 trillion, which is the equivalent of about 35% of the $23.0 trillion market capitalization of the S&P 500 at that time, was owned by foreign interests.
Im going to make expropriation of foreign owned assets great again.
Foreign ownership of agricultural land amounts to roughly the size of the entire state of Ohio.
Roughly 15% of Maine's land is owned by foreigners — if you only count agricultural land.
Agricultural land owned by foreigners is roughly valued at $52 billion. These businesses enjoy subsidies and bailouts just like any American owned enterprise.
In 2018, JBS, a Brazilian owned meatpacking company, received about $5 million in bailouts from the Trump administrations agricultural trade bill.
Foreign ownership of meatpacking companies is particularly gross once you dive into the details. In some cases, like our Brazilian friend above, imports of foreign meat were processed on site then marketed as products of the United States.
When we banned the import of Brazilian beef after more than 10% of it was found to be below health standards, JBS, the company that received bailout money, was caught bribing meat inspectors in their own country to cover-up the quality issues.
These aren't good businesses.
These aren't good businesses.
Six states have laws restricting or prohibiting foreign ownership of farmland:
Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota and Oklahoma
Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota and Oklahoma
With the purchase of Smithfield Foods, China now owns 1 in every 4 pigs raised in the United States.
That's a significant control of our food supply and should be looked at as a national security risk.
That's a significant control of our food supply and should be looked at as a national security risk.
And China does view this as a national security issue.
Their twelfth 5-year-plan, issued in 2011, ordered Chinese businesses to begin purchasing foreign agriculture land.
Today, 1 out of 2 pigs in the ENTIRE WORLD is consumed by the Chinese.
Their twelfth 5-year-plan, issued in 2011, ordered Chinese businesses to begin purchasing foreign agriculture land.
Today, 1 out of 2 pigs in the ENTIRE WORLD is consumed by the Chinese.
In 2011, China owned just $81 million worth of American farmland. By 2012, that ownership had increased ten fold. And the 2013 deal for Smithfield alone snuck another $480 million in farmland... Without accounting for the $6 billion in warehouses and factories they bought with it
When our nation's largest pork producer was sold to China, Republican @SenPatRoberts openly mocked his colleagues on both sides of the aisle for claiming that this was a national security risk.
Tag-teaming with Larry Pope, CEO of Smithfield Foods, the two had this to say to the Senate:
LP: “These are not Russian communists. They like Americans.”
PR: [mocking tone] “Did you realize you were the victim of a Chinese communist plot? And the control of your company somehow to allow China to control the pork industry?"
PR: [mocking tone] “Did you realize you were the victim of a Chinese communist plot? And the control of your company somehow to allow China to control the pork industry?"
Larry Pope used that moment to get the chamber laughing. Then he lied.
He claimed that Shuanghui, the Chinese firm, was not controlled by the Chinese government. Wan Long, the firm's chairman, was a member of the National People's Congress and former Mao footsoldier.
He claimed that Shuanghui, the Chinese firm, was not controlled by the Chinese government. Wan Long, the firm's chairman, was a member of the National People's Congress and former Mao footsoldier.
When asked why he could not simply sell American pork to Chinese markets, Pope responded that the Chinese would never allow an American company to take a stake in their pork business.
As for @SenPatRoberts? Why did he sell out his country's food supply? His state was one of the largest producers of livestock feed and expansion of the pork industry, even one not shepherded by Americans, benefited his constituents.
Worth noting that Roberts has been put in charge of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Might as well let the fox into the hen house.
